City Solicitor warns Toronto council could lose Uber lawsuit, offers option to back down
The City's top lawyer is warning Toronto council that it could lose a lawsuit launched by rideshare giant Uber — if it doesn't change course on its recent licence cap.
A confidential briefing note written by the City Solicitor and obtained by CTV News reads, "without action by Council, Uber is likely to succeed in establishing that Council's decision does not satisfy the legal test that has been applied by the courts in prior cases. If so, the court will quash the bylaw."
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
The development is a blow to Mayor Olivia Chow's plan to freeze the number of ridesharing licences until at least the end of next year.
In a surprise vote in October council voted 16-7 in favour of the move amid a discussion about transitioning the industry to zero-emission vehicles by 2030. Proponents, including Chow, argued limiting the number of licences would reduce pollution and congestion in the core — but Uber Canada responded with a lawsuit.
The ridesharing company alleges that the cap was enacted in bad faith and without notice, violating the city's own procedural bylaws.
In the confidential report to council, the Solicitor writes that there are "legal issues" with how the freeze was enacted. Rescinding the cap, she advises, would "render Uber's application moot;" pausing it would allow for consultation with the industry.
"Any cap implemented after receiving information from City staff and comments from stakeholders would be more defensible," the report reads.
Chow, asked Tuesday morning whether she would back down in the face of the lawsuit, responded: "No. Well, I can't comment on the court case. This is going to be in front of the court." Chow did, however, meet with the Solicitor late Tuesday to discuss the case.
The City Solicitor notes in the briefing that council does not need to change its previous decision, in which case it would simply direct legal staff to defend the court application.
The report pegs the City's prospective legal costs at up to $40,000 to respond to the litigation. If the City loses, the Solicitor notes, it would likely have to pay Uber's court costs, which could top $150,000.
Meanwhile, the group RideFair Toronto, named in the application, is applying for intervenor status in the lawsuit.
"You know, it's capped at 54,000 drivers roughly," Thorben Wieditz, who represents the group, told CTV News Toronto.
"But if people leave, new people can come in. So, you know, it's a rolling pause. And we believe that Uber is fully capable of making a good business in the city of Toronto with that amount of licences."
Uber has requested an expedited court date and will speak to the urgency of the case at a hearing on Dec. 19. City council meets Wednesday and will discuss the issue largely in-camera.
"We'll have a chance to obviously decipher the information and, you know, decide on the course of action that has to be taken," Coun. Michael Thompson said Tuesday.
"I'm sort of of a view that, you know, the threat of [a] lawsuit on a political decision or any decision, shouldn't be the consideration as to whether or not to back down."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.